OBJECTIVE This report provides an updated description of trends and patterns in first premarital cohabitations among women aged 15-44 in the United States using the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Trends in pregnancies within first premarital cohabiting unions and differences by Hispanic origin and race, and education are also presented. METHODS Data for 2006-2010 were collected thro...

Three hundred fifty five pregnant women were tested for IgM and IgG type of antibodies by Enzyme Immuno Assay (EIA). Sero-positivity for IgM and IgG antibodies were 13% and 29% respectively. Of 212 pregnant women with abortion, 39 (18%) and 80 (38%) were sero-positive and of 143 pregnant women with normal reproductive performance, 7 (5%) and 23 (16%) were positive for IgM and IgG respectively. ...

OBJECTIVES Policy and programmatic efforts promoting sexual abstinence until marriage have increased, but it is unclear whether establishing such behavior as normative is a realistic public health goal. This study examined the proportion of individuals in various cohorts who had had premarital sex (defined as either having had vaginal intercourse before first marrying or ever having had interco...

INTRODUCTION Several studies in Sub- Saharan Africa have documented high and increasing premarital sexual activities among adolescents. Younger people face social, peer and cultural pressure to engage in premarital sex. As a result, significant numbers of adolescents are involved in sexual activities at an early age which exposes them to the risk of unintended pregnancy, early marriage, abortio...

INTRODUCTION We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of "anti-HBc alone" among Syrian blood donors, highlighting the possibility of representing occult HBV infection. METHODOLOGY Sera of 3,896 healthy blood donors were tested for both HBsAg and anti-HBc. HBsAg-negative, anti-HBc-positive samples were further tested for the antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs), and "anti-HBc alone" sera were tested for ...

BACKGROUND Premarital sex increases the risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections including HIV if unprotected and contraception is not used. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess premarital sex in the last twelve months and its predictors among regular undergraduate students of Wollega University. METHODS A cross-sectional survey using pretested, structured q...

In an effort to address high rates of marital distress and divorce, numerous scholars, educators, and policy makers have advocated for premarital education programs. Despite this widespread support, there remains a number of valid questions regarding the general effectiveness of premarital education in strengthening marriages and preventing divorce. This paper presents a comprehensive and criti...

This study clearly replicated the previous findings which demonstrated the predictive validity of PREPARE. Like the previous study, this longitudinal study was a 3-year follow-up of 179 couples who took PREPARE during their engagement. As in the initial longitudinal study, PREPARE predicted, with about 80% accuracy, couples who got divorced from those that were happily married. Also, the same l...

background and objectives : relatively little is known about the relationship between religion and abstinence. the aim of this study was to examine the correlation between religious beliefs and behaviors and the intention of premarital sexual abstinence among iranian youths. methods: the current study was a cross-sectional one carried out among youths of five universities in shiraz, iran. 577 p...

We report of an Iranian family with history of a rare haemoglobin variant, Haemoglobin J associated with alpha thalassemia, discovered while performing premarital thalassemia screening. In the present study we report the first case of haemoglobin J-Toronto [alpha 5 (A3) Ala > Asp] on -globin gene, found in a 16-year-old female from Mazandaran Province, North of Iran. Further investigation chara...